Team Work on the example of the film Oceans Eleven Essay

Team Work on the example of the film Oceans Eleven - Essay Example The paper describes the leadership influence on team work and the group processes. Our goals were simple: we wanted to work together to achieve a quality project with very little conflict and low stress. We made this happen by coming to agreements on section length and due dates and we followed this schedule. It worked out well for us because they were SMART goals. While doing our project we didn’t really ever have to influence each other to do anything we didn’t want to. We think this is because we used a logical, collaborative approach to accomplish our task. Both of these were effective; we were logical in the sense that if we were to force other group members into roles that they didn’t want to be in, they probably wouldn’t excel in those areas which would negatively affect the outcome of our project and we were collaborative in that we worked together to make sure we accomplished the set goals of the group. A passive or assertive approach would most l ikely not work to influence our group members to accomplish our goals. The process of decision making is extremely important and every member must be in unison when it comes to decision making, usually good decisions are made when the team members are all in unison but at times it is just not plausible but even if it is not plausible the team leader must convince each member of the group and a unanimous decision must be made. Communication is another very important factor, each member in a group must communicate and communication must always be a two way process.

The theories and philosophical understanding Essay Example for Free

The theories and philosophical understanding Essay With the advent of the 21st century and the fact that myriad challenges confront the world, it is only through firm disposition and the ability to cope with the persistent challenges of today that one can assuredly survive anything that may press on. And since the birth of the new age, we should take quantum leap towards the furtherance of ourselves to be of benefit to others and most of all to the world in which we live, and be one who can share in the problems of time with dignity, self-reliance, and respect for the diversity of others. These, I firmly believe, is what AUK aims for to provide students not just with knowledge but wisdom, and let them discover their innate best upbringings which will set them to the kind of pedestal they yearn to be. And since, we live in the land of miscellany, where many may have been living with their own ideology and philosophical conception, it is deemed that the young be inculcated with fine understanding of the differences around them and respect for themselves and for diversity. These are what motivated me to aspire to be part of AUK’s community. Because one may beeducated with multitude of theories and philosophical understanding in life for several years, but may not enliven everything he had been told and learned. One may just aspire only for the advantage of himself instead of the progress of many. The underlying principle behind a university which caters to the demand of its studentry is to mold future leaders with high moral standards. With this drive, I can admit to myself that if I will be given a chance to be part of such prestigious community of intellectuals and future benefactors of humanity, I can enhance the its community for I think that the best armament towards the fulfillment of one’s goals and aims is to share the same thing by having it manifested through his actions and performance of duties. I can say that commitment is one which can make a difference and this one of my attributes to commit to anything that will not just be of benefit for but one which I think will also benefit from me. And since commitment works hand in hand with action, I should say that I am also active in performing my duties and responsibilities which have been realized in most of my school activities and other responsibilities at home. If I have not been educated of the importance of taking responsibility, then I would not have been part of our school’s basketball team for four years. Academically, I have always been focused and straightforward for I treasure what my parents would always tell me that education is something which will give you the best weapon to combat innocence and one which will set you apart from the others. It is something which can’t easily be attained but sure enough to be something which will follow its master. I do believe that the concepts and skills I have acquired from my secondary education have equipped me to better understand the intricacies of life and to aspire for more altruistic aims. This I should say I have already started doing, when I volunteered in childen’s hospitals. And I believe that this has been helpful in understanding more the deeper meaning of service to others. All these root from my attachment to my family which I am most proud of. If not because of them, I would not have been looking at things seriously as possible. These attribute which set forth from our home to the school have ameliorated me to become someone who aspire to be sculpted to a better individual with greater hopes soaring high.

Coca Cola In Egypts Market Marketing Essay

Coca Cola In Egypts Market Marketing Essay The Coca-Cola Company is established in 1886 by the pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton in Atlanta, in the beginning it was sold as a medicine. The Company registered its trade mark in March 27, 1944. Nowadays it is spread in more than 200 countries with over 500 brands and 3,300 beverage products. These products include sparkling beverages and still beverages, such as waters, juice drinks, teas, coffees, sports drinks and energy drinks. The top five NARTD (non alcoholic ready to drink) are: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. The number of employees worldwide is 92,400 and headquarter is in Atlanta. The Coca-Cola Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KO. The Coca-Cola system operates on a local scale in every country where they do business. It does not own or control most of its bottling partners, its compromises the company and the bottling partners. The Company has more than 300 bottlers worldwide. Coca-Cola manufactures and sells concentrates, bev erage bases and syrups through its concentrate plant to bottlers; it does own the brands and is responsible for brand marketing initiatives. The bottling Companies manufacture, package, merchandise and distribute the finished branded beverages to Coca-Cola customers and vending partners, who then sell the products to the consumers.1 This was an overview on the Global Coca-Cola Company. Lets look to Coca-Cola Egypt as the paper is studying the company in Egypt. Coca-Cola exists since 1942 and has two bottlers TCCBCE and El Nile Beverage Company. The bottling operation ownership for The Coca-Cola Bottling Company (TCCBCE) is: 51% TCCBCE and 49% Coca-Cola Company as for El Nile its 100% owned by El Nile. The entire system has 11,494 full time employees. 1-coca-cola annual report The Strategic business units that the company operates in Egypt are carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks and mineral water. The company recorded revenues of $78,526 million during the financial year ended December 2009 with an increase of 15% compared to 2008. The increase of 12% in revenues was coming from CSD (carbonated soft drinks) segment and 3% from the Mineral water segment. However there is a decrease in the CSD growth rate by 3% in 2009 which was 15.6% (FY 07-08) versus 12% (FY 08-09) the decrease is due to change in the consumer life style became healthier conscious. Egypt juice Industry analysis The non carbonated soft drinks are considerate to have a huge potential within the juice sector. Egypt juice industry is a lucrative market with a value of $/$216mm, it is growing from 11-22% over the last eight years. The industry sales are 44 mm unit cases in 2009. The juice segment expected to grow at 11% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in 2012 while the Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSD) segment is expected to grow at 4.7% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in 2012. Based on retail audits done by the AC Nielsen and Protrac studying the Egyptian beverage market the result shows that the consumer life style is changing and became healthier conscious and they are shifting to the drinks that are healthier. The CSD market is shrinking and other markets are developing. Juice is a lucrative product category that has been growing consistently over the past 8 years. The juice industry depends on farms that cultivate fruits. The different juice type: Fruit-Flavored Drink is a 100% concentrate, Juice Drinks it contain up to 24% Juice, Nectar contains 25% up to 99% juice and product called 100% juice is a product of 100% juice. PESTEL Analysis for Juice in Egyptian market PESTEL analysis is a business measurement tool that helps to understand the external surroundings and market as such the position, potential and direction for a business. PESTEL stands for Political factors e.g. changes in government policies, Economic factors relate to changes in the wider economy such as rises in living standards or the general level of demand, Social factors explain the buying patterns and buying attitude, Technologic factors is the changes in innovation potential, Environmental factors include the weather and climate change and Legal factors major legal changes that have affected firms where they operate. All these factors are used to assess the market. Political factor Egypts political condition is secure and a completely democratic republic is projected within the near future. Egypt was ruled by many countries before establishing freedom and today it is run by a multi-party semi-presidential system where the supervisory power is separated between the president and the prime minister, although in practice the president tends to hold a larger share of the power. Egypts political system presently receives much needed financial support from the US which is helping to develop the country into a new era of optimism. Egypt increased inward investment, creating a rich investment atmosphere. Economic factor The economic environment in Egypt is ready for investment. Egypts economic freedom score is 59.0, making its economy the 94th freest in the 2010 Index. 3.2% increase in gross domestic product (GDP) Per capita to reach $2,161. Per capita consumption of non alcoholic ready to drink (NARTD) will increase by 30% reaching in 2020. Growth is highly driven by stills (juices and water). Juice is the fastest growing category with Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) increase of 11 % driving growth of non alcoholic ready to drink NARTD. Social factor Key factors behind the forecast increase of juice market in Egypt is the new consumer lifestyle preferences for healthier drinks and scare of obesity which resulted a slowing growth rates for sales of carbonated soft drinks (CSD) market. Despite the fact the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) market has remained profitable. One of the main characteristic of Egyptian life style is the importance of family and friendships. Egyptians are enormously socials and one of the importances of their life style is the relaxation time which they spend with friends or families at home, cafà © or restaurants. An important part of Egyptian residents is the eating behavior. The last five years the coffee shops spread very fast in daily life especially in young adults and teen generation. The consumption of juice is correlated to person age. Population is 81 Million out of which 50% are under 20 years. 50% of the population is the prospective juice target (kids and teenagers) because 64% of ready to drink juice volumes comes from 8-29 yr olds skewed towards 8-11 yrs old. Technology factor The juice industry benefits of a huge technology. Its for the sake of both business and the consumer when new technologies guide to better quality products. The industry depends on the quality of fruits that are growing in the country. Juice makers divided their production into two different forms pasteurized and raw juice. Technology helps to retain the properties of fruit the same as its original taste. Juice shelf life is small due to defect that can happen based on environmental climate. To extend the shelf life, juice is pasteurized on the same method as milk which for decades can be considered a middle ground between raw and ultra-pasteurized. The flavor of milk is affected by pasteurization much more strongly than fruit juices tend to be. Ecological factors Juice Industry is depending on agriculture and fruit growth wherever it spread. It is necessary to realize that fruit growing relies on agricultural land, water and suitable climate. Fertilizers used in agriculture can be a source of environmental pollution. Major change in climate occurring due to global warming can impact the farming industry. This leads to a need of integration of farmers into an agro environmental program that needs a support and keeping production procedures in accordance with environmental protection and sustainability of natural process. Legal factors Legal issues involve laws in juice production regulated by Egyptian government which prohibits use of returnable glass bottles. Such regulation negatively affects juice industry as returnable glass bottles are more profitable. Porter five forces model for juice sector Porters Five Forces Model was developed by Michael E. Porter in his book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors in 1980. The famous book he wrote in his thirties became an international best seller, published in nineteen languages and re-printed approaching sixty times. Since that time Porters Model became an important tool help for analyzing an organizations industry structure in strategic processes. Porter has identified five competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. These forces determine the intensity of competition and hence the profitability and attractiveness of an industry and answer the question of What are the key factors that can determine a business success? The five forces are described as follows: Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of customers Competitive rivalry within the industry Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of substitutes Recklies Management Project GmbH www.themanager.org (figure 1) Bargaining Power of Customers Threat of New Entrants Threat of Substitutes Competitive Rivalry between Existing firms In combination with a PESTEL-Analysis, which reveals drivers for change in an industry, Five Forces Analysis can reveal insights about the potential future attractiveness of the industry. Porters Model is useful tools to determine potential changes of competitive forces. Bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of suppliers is described by how much power suppliers have on you in a specific industry or market. A business or a producing industry requires inputs to give a final product such as raw materials, labor, component and other supplies. This lead to a relationship between buyer and supplier provide raw materials used in the production. Supplier is called powerful when he has influence on the producing industry. Lets focus on suppliers in Egyptian juice industry and how much they have power influencing the production of the final juice product. Juice industry depends on many suppliers; sugar, material required in packaging, preservative, flavor and a key player in juice industry is the juice concentrate supplier. Juice supply chain starts form farm that depend on fruit seasonality. The crop of any fruit varies from time to time in quantity and quality based on climate changes and natural crises. This is the main reasons that change in juice concentrate availability pric e and quality. Juice concentrate suppliers are divided in three categories. Suppliers that produce concentrate and use them in the production of final juice product, others that produce concentrate and use part of their production to make a final juice product and sell the rest and suppliers that sell all their production of juice concentrate. Its worth to mention that a big part of the juice concentrate is exported outside Egypt to other countries and one of the main countries who import from Egypt are the Gulf countries. Therefore the supplier power is considerate high because the market is dominated by a few large suppliers rather than fragmented source of supply, supplier customer are fragmented, there is a possibility for supplier to increase concentrate juice prices and there is no substitute to the juice concentrate. To reduce supplier power in juice industry it is important to know what is the influence of outside factors to be taken in consideration to find a place in the m arket. Juice producers make a partnership with suppliers that produce juice concentrate to reduce the power of suppliers. Bargaining power of customers Bargaining power of customers is how much negotiation power the customers have and how much power he has over you in a specific industry or market, meaning how much customer can impose pressure in margin and volume. When buyer has a strong economic power the relationship to the producing industry is near to what economist call monopsony, a market where there is many suppliers and one buyer. In such case your ability to capture a high proportion of the value created will decrease, and you will earn lower profit. Having a few large buyers will have a significant leverage to negotiate price and others terms because you will be afraid losing an important buyer and volume which puts you in a weak position. Buyers have also power on you if they can produce the product themselves and they can play suppliers against each others. However there is a few large buyers and they buy in a large quantities. Meanwhile there are many small buyers that you have greater control over them because they buy a small portion of your sales. Bargaining power of consumer in the juice industry, there are three type of buyer which is the direct consumer, the retail outlets and the wholesalers. 75% of direct consumers for juice freshly prepare juice at home or they buy it from a plain juice shops. In this situation the main competition of those buyers is any plain juice shops or fresh fruit that can substitute the juice product. The juice producer can reduce this bargaining by offering a differentiated product and create loyalty to the brand that offers higher value as the juice freshly prepared its shelf life is limited. The Wholesalers are few in number therefore their bargaining power of consumer is significant due to the number of juice product that they do have on the retails shelf and how do they present the product to the consumer. The retails outlets are many in numbers and they do have a big number of products however the bargaining power of wholesalers and retail outlets are not significant if the consumers are loyal to the brand. Generally the juice industry in Egypt, buyers has more power than the entrepreneurs due to the fact that consumer have different option to entertainment, number of retail outlets that have a several product on self. Therefore the differentiation, creating value to the product and loyalty to the brand is very important. Threat of a new entrant Threat of a new entrant is how easy a competitor can enter into your industry or market? New competitors determents changes in the market environment in terms of gain market shares, pressure to reduce the prices which have an impact on profit and impact on customer loyalty at any time. In term of reaction and adjustment the existing players have a pressure on them. Threat of new entrant depends on barrier to enter industry or market and how the existing player will react with a new competitor. New entrant barrier is economies of scale, the experience that the existing players have which lead to cost advantage, high fixed assets cost and strong distribution channel of existing players. The existing of these barriers protects the existing player from the threat of new entrant. In addition the existent players can react by reducing price or forming a partnership to reduce the threat of a new entrant. Threat of new entrant is considerate in Egyptian juice industry due to high capital cost and knowledge required. Based on this usually the threat of new entrant is higher for the companies that are involved in manufacturing then service. Its not always negative that you do have a competition close to you. Some industry encourage a new entrant specially if they do have already experience in a similar field and they do have a big part of their capital already established such as the factory which just need the production line and having their own distribution channel. Threat of a substitutes products Threat of substitutes products, we give term substitutes to a product that a buyer can replace a business product with another one. What products your buyer can replace your product with? It exists when a buyer can replace your product with another product for the same purpose with a lower price. In such case they can attract a significant proportion of the market and have impact on sales and volume of the existing players. The substitutes product also applies on complementary product. The main factors that can affect substitutes product are customer shift to another similar product based on lower price because your product doesnt give different value from the competitors one and customer have a little loyalty to your product therefore, the threat of substitute is considerable. A substitute threat can be reduced by differentiating your product than the other existing in market and create loyalty to the brand through marketing initiative (TV, radio, outdoors advertisingetc). Following the new live styles trend, consumers became healthier conscious make the threat of substitutes products low in juice industry. The consumption of carbonated soft drinks decreased. The substitute product in this industry can be a healthy product such as fruit juice drink, fruit flavored drink, powdered fruit drinks can substitute the juice concentrate drink and it can also be substituted by milk , fruit base yogurt and mineral or bottled water. Variety of substitutes products are available at the market consumer have an open choices which they can choose whatever suits their needs. However they are not real substitutes products because juice is drunk in different time and occasions. Rivalry between existing firms Rivalry is the competition between existing firms in an industry. In certain industry the rivalry is high and has an impact on profit as you cannot set your own price and it can make the profit to zero. This force might be the most important in Poters five forces as it describe the intensity between existing players. The rivalry is called high when the competitors on a same industry have similar products with no differentiation and they compete in term of price. The market players are same in mass with comparable strategies. Having high barrier to exit the market and when the market is increasing slowly or shrinking this makes the rivalry a considerable force. To decrease the rivalry between existing players you should avoid price competition, differentiate your product and strategies, focus on a different sector and avoid high capacity production. The Egyptian juice market is a fragmented market with many players. Four companies have 50% of the market the rest are less than 5% each. The market is not only splited between the players in terms of market share but also shrinked by products. This means that there is a good chance to enter the market. However, PepsiCo the major competitive to Coca-Cola is preparing new juice launch during the current year. PepsiCo made a joint venture with Almarai Company (extremely successful dairy foods company in the Middle East) and have acquired Beyti well known brand name in Egypt. It produces a variety of high-quality dairy and juice. They are big in size with a very strong distribution channel however the consumer has a law loyalty to specific brand. This situation will make rivalry in the near future. Egypt juice market analysis Lets go more deep and look into the market analysis to be able to determine the juice market sucess . The goal is to be able to find out the market attractivness and understand more about the opportunity and threats of the sector. Key success factors Key success factors depend on two questions which need to be analyzed What does the consumer want? (Here we need to analyze the market) How to face the competition? (Competition analysis) In Egypt juice sector to make a success from the consumer point: Egyptians doesnt make a great difference between artificial distilled fruit beverage and fruit juice they are comparing products in terms of price. Therefore you need to have a competitive price or to build a differentiation strategy to enable you to set your price. Innovation is one of key success factors that need to be present to gain consumer. The consumer has a law loyalty to brands this makes the product availability in market very important. The availability plus the innovation in packages and product range that suits the new consumer life styles will help to build loyalty to the brand. For the competition, you need to be different in product image, have a strong distribution channel to be able to position yourself in the market and to start to compete. Demand Analysis Demand characteristic Following the new consumer life style, the juice market has a high demand based on questionnaire done by MEMRB agency to the Coca-Cola Egypt company here is the outcome. Those that consume juice product on monthly bases dont think it is as strong on Thirst quenching, Good for you, Great tasting and refreshing. However, an improvement on all measures for juice, frequent consumption coming from weekly consumers. Consumer that thinks that they are always doing new thinks shows growth from0% to 7% in 2008-2009 while the carbonated soft drinks shows 3% increase in 2009 and the one that things that uice gives energy shows an improvement from 5% to 9% for year 2008-2009 while the carbonated soft drinks shows a decrease from -6% to -11% for year 2008-2009. The market study also shows that the Egyptian consume 60% of juice drink out of home in cafà ©, shops or kiosks this is the opposite of the carbonated soft drinks percentage. 25% are consumed in morning occasions from 9-12am other than breakfast. Snacking the biggest occasion came with 36% it stats from 3-4pm. Bibliographies http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Coca-Cola_Company_(KO) http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ Internal resources from the Coca-cola Egypt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice http://www.propertyshowrooms.com/egypt/property/investment/egypt-property-investment-strategies.asp http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Middle-East/Egypt/gdp-per-capita http://www.dairyengineering.com/applejuice.asp http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml http://www.themanager.org/pdf/p5f.pdf http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/ec/ec-722.pdf

Mental Imagery: Can a Figment of Imagination Help Performance? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Mental Imagery: Can a Figment of Imagination Help Performance? "It all comes from the mind. I've seen the most incredible success stories...because a person had a dream and it was so powerful no one could touch it. He'd feel it, believe it, think about it all day and night. That would inspire him to do things necessary to get the results he wanted (2)." -Arnold Schwarzenegger For the past few weeks, the world has been glued to their television screens, mesmerized by the breathtaking accomplishments of the 2002 Olympic athletes. As an avid watcher of ice skating events, I couldn’t help but wonder what athletes like the bronze medallist Micelle Kwan and the gold medallist Sarah Hughes were thinking prior to their final skating performances. Before the final skating event, both skaters physically practiced their performances. I noticed that in addition to physically preparing themselves by repeatedly running through their performances, Sarah and Michelle closed their eyes and listened to music before they skated. Did mental imagery help either of the athletes prepare and successfully execute their presentations? In other words, what are the effects of mental imagery on the performance of athletes such as Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes? Does it make a difference on performance if mental imagery of the desired outcome is absent or present? What is mental imagery? In The Effects of Mental Imagery on Athletic Performance, Anne Plessinger describes mental imagery as the imagining of the execution of an action without actually performing the action. Plessinger also explains that mental imagery not only includes visual senses, but also auditory, olfactory and kinesthetic senses (4). Studies have demonstrated that mental imagery prior to athletic performance leads to better results than the execution of the action alone. Plessinger describes an experiment that consisted of a control group and an imagery group who were told to complete specific golf skills. It was concluded that the imagery group performed better because they had higher goals and expectations of themselves (4). Perhaps the mental preparation helped the imagery group’s brains acquire the right skills needed. Also, other studies have shown specific physiological differences (breathing, heart rate...etc.) with the addition of mental imagery before perform ance (1). Does this mean that mental imagery is linked to motor performance? Would athletes achieve the same or different results if they mentally prepare themselves or not? To answer these questions, I looked at the neurological aspect of mental imagery and motor preparation.

How To Write An A Essay :: essays research papers

An â€Å"A† Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With these simple steps, anybody can write an â€Å"A† quality essay. All it takes is a well written introduction, body and conclusion. These steps are a lot easier than most people make them out to be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first, and most important, step to writing an â€Å"A† essay is the introduction. The purpose of the introduction is to get the reader’s attention. The introduction should also let the reader know the contents of your essay. To get the reader’s attention use a lead-in. a lead-in is a sentence or phrase that captures the interest of the reader. One way to do this is to appeal to the emotions or feelings of the reader. A lead-in can be in the form of a question, a shocking statement, a headline, or a statistic; as long as it gets the attention of the reader. A thesis statement should also be included in the introduction. The thesis should inform the reader as to the contents of the essay and how the essay is organized. The reader should be able to read the thesis statement and find a specific topic in the essay without having to read the entire essay. This can be done by organizing the body paragraphs in the same order as the items in the th esis statement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Step two, in writing an â€Å"A† essay, is writing effective body paragraphs. In order for them to be effective, they must support the thesis sentence. The worst thing to do is to go off on subjects that have nothing to do with the essay. To avoid getting off the subject, try not to use stories as examples or to prove a point. Every body paragraph should have a topic sentence. The other sentences in the paragraph should support the topic sentence. The paragraph, as a whole, should support the thesis sentence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third and final step to writing an â€Å"A† essay is the conclusion. The conclusion should summarize the entire paper in a few sentences.

Aztec Warrior Essay -- History, Aztec Military Training

According to the legend, the Aztecs, who referred to themselves as the Mexica, spent years wandering through central Mexico in search of a homeland. In AD 1325, the Aztecs founded their new capital Tenochtitlan (Moctezuma, 9). Years later, the Aztecs started to build their renowned empire. The Aztec Empire was made up of the Triple Alliance: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan (Moctezuma, 55). Agriculture was the basis of the Aztec’s economy, but conquest and warfare lead to economic expansion and the accumulation of tributes from conquered towns (Moctezuma, 21). War was vital, for it maintained and expanded the economic and religious basis (Moctezuma, 55). The Aztec warriors were the driving force of much of the Aztec empires success because of their training, weaponry, wardress, sacrificing, and combat. Aztec military training starts when a male child is twenty days old. There are two separate military training schools, Telpochcalli and Calmecac, whichever school the child entered was weighted heavily by heritage. Commoners usually went to Telpochcalli, to become soldiers, or Calmecac, to become a priest. Nobles, (privileged status from heritage), could become a priest, political, or military leader at Calmecac, which involved rigorous training of intellect and the training taught at telpochcalli. From here the youths would train until ready to be sponsored by veteran warriors that would take the youths to battle and watch over them. The youths would experience the war early to learn to courageously face death on the battlefield. Warfare provided commoners an opportunity for social advancement. Achievement on the battlefield would offer elevation of social status, honor and material awards. A distinguished military care... ...presenting Aztec gods). The eagle represented the images of the sun while descending and the jaguar represented the death of the sun (when the sun was not present in the sky). â€Å"This solar association refers to the Aztec warrior’s primary function, acquiring victims to nourish the sun† (Pasztory, 82). The ixcahuac, obsidian stone knives can be found in the Museo Nacional de Antropoligia, Mexico. Atzec Atlatls can be found at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico two feet in length and one and a half inches thick with a hook at the upper end (Hassig, 76). The darts used with the atlatl, where made of wood and the butts were feathered, they would be fire hardened, and had obsidian, fishbone, copper, or flint points. Stone engravings of a warrior with an atlatl, dart, and shield originally from Tenochtitlan, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico, (Hassig, 78). Aztec Warrior Essay -- History, Aztec Military Training According to the legend, the Aztecs, who referred to themselves as the Mexica, spent years wandering through central Mexico in search of a homeland. In AD 1325, the Aztecs founded their new capital Tenochtitlan (Moctezuma, 9). Years later, the Aztecs started to build their renowned empire. The Aztec Empire was made up of the Triple Alliance: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan (Moctezuma, 55). Agriculture was the basis of the Aztec’s economy, but conquest and warfare lead to economic expansion and the accumulation of tributes from conquered towns (Moctezuma, 21). War was vital, for it maintained and expanded the economic and religious basis (Moctezuma, 55). The Aztec warriors were the driving force of much of the Aztec empires success because of their training, weaponry, wardress, sacrificing, and combat. Aztec military training starts when a male child is twenty days old. There are two separate military training schools, Telpochcalli and Calmecac, whichever school the child entered was weighted heavily by heritage. Commoners usually went to Telpochcalli, to become soldiers, or Calmecac, to become a priest. Nobles, (privileged status from heritage), could become a priest, political, or military leader at Calmecac, which involved rigorous training of intellect and the training taught at telpochcalli. From here the youths would train until ready to be sponsored by veteran warriors that would take the youths to battle and watch over them. The youths would experience the war early to learn to courageously face death on the battlefield. Warfare provided commoners an opportunity for social advancement. Achievement on the battlefield would offer elevation of social status, honor and material awards. A distinguished military care... ...presenting Aztec gods). The eagle represented the images of the sun while descending and the jaguar represented the death of the sun (when the sun was not present in the sky). â€Å"This solar association refers to the Aztec warrior’s primary function, acquiring victims to nourish the sun† (Pasztory, 82). The ixcahuac, obsidian stone knives can be found in the Museo Nacional de Antropoligia, Mexico. Atzec Atlatls can be found at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico two feet in length and one and a half inches thick with a hook at the upper end (Hassig, 76). The darts used with the atlatl, where made of wood and the butts were feathered, they would be fire hardened, and had obsidian, fishbone, copper, or flint points. Stone engravings of a warrior with an atlatl, dart, and shield originally from Tenochtitlan, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico, (Hassig, 78).

The principles of right and wrong Essay

The principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group) â€Å"the Puritan ethic†; â€Å"a person with old-fashioned values† (a system of principles governing morality and acceptable conduct) motivation based on ideas of right and wrong The philosophical study of moral values and rules  known as moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice, etc. Major branches of ethics include: Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth-values (if any) may be determined; Normative ethics, about the practical means of determining a moral course of action; Applied ethics, about how moral outcomes can be achieved in specific situations; Moral psychology, about how moral capacity or moral agency develops and what its nature is; and Descriptive ethics, about what moral values people actually abide by. May be defined as the actions an individual takes on himself to ensure his continued survival across the dynamics. It is a personal thing. When one is ethical, it is something he does himself by his own choice.† [1] According to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings, Scientology ethics is predicated on the idea that there are degrees of ethical conduct. morality (concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct) morality (motivation based on ideas of right and wrong) Morality (from the Latin moralities â€Å"manner, character, proper behavior†) is a sense of behavioral conduct that differentiates intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good (or right) and bad (or wrong). A moral code is a system of morality (for example, according to a particular philosophy, religion, culture, etc.) and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code. Immorality is the active opposition to morality, while amorality is variously defined as an unawareness of, indifference toward, or disbelief in any set of moral standards or principles.[1][2][3][4][5] Morality has two principal meanings: In its â€Å"descriptive† sense, morality refers to personal or cultural values, codes of conduct or social mores that distinguish between right and wrong in the human society. Describing morality in this way is not making a claim about what is objectively right or wrong, but only referring to what is considered right or wrong by people. For the most part right and wrong acts are classified as such because they are thought to cause benefit or harm, but it is possible that many moral beliefs are based on prejudice, ignorance or even hatred.[clarification needed] This sense of the term is addressed by descriptive ethics. In its â€Å"normative† sense, morality refers directly to what is right and wrong, regardless of what specific individuals think. It could be defined as the conduct of the ideal â€Å"moral† person in a certain situation. This usage of the term is characterized by â€Å"definitive† statements such as â€Å"That act is immoral† rather than descriptive ones such as â€Å"Many believe that act is immoral.† It is often challenged by moral nihilism, which rejects the existence of an any moral truths,[6] and supported by moral realism, which supports the existence of moral truths. The normative usage of the term â€Å"morality† is addressed by normative ethics. Islamic ethics (Ø £Ã˜ ®Ã™â€žÃ˜ §Ã™â€š Ø ¥Ã˜ ³Ã™â€žÃ˜ §Ã™â€¦Ã™Å Ã˜ ©), defined as â€Å"good character,† historically took shape gradually from the 7th century and was finally established by the 11th century.[1] It was eventually shaped as a successful amalgamation of the Qur’anic teachings, the teachings of the Sunnah of Muhammad, the precedents of Islamic jurists (see Sharia and Fiqh), the pre-Islamic Arabian tradition, and non-Arabic elements (including Persian and Greek ideas) embedded in or integrated with a generally Islamic structure.[1] Although Muhammad’s preaching produced a â€Å"radical change in moral values based on the sanctions of the new religion and the present religion, and fear of God and of the Last Judgment†, the tribal practice of Arabs did not completely die out. Later Muslim scholars expanded the religious ethic of the Qur’an and Hadith in immense detail. The core of the Western ethics is supposed to be Judeo Christian values. But, the real Judeo-Christian ethics has little difference from the Islamic ethics. This is because Muhammad (peace be upon him) came in the same line of prophetic religion, as Moses and Jesus; he taught the same morals, within the same framework of Semitic tradition. Muslims worship the same–One and Only–Creator, as Jews and Christians do. If we adopt a more inclusive â€Å"Abrahamic† view, Islam can no more be considered â€Å"the other† In short, there is little difference between the core ethics of the West and Islam. This is despite the materialism and utilitarianism is now dominant in certain circles, which is abhorrent to Islam. But, in fact, it is abhorrent to the real Judeo-Christian tradition too.. Hameed goes on to explain why there is no real difference between Islam and Western ethics, though relating to his arguments will require a whole different article. More basic, is to understand what Hameed is doing here. He’s playing with the terms used so they will fit his view. Of course, once you ignore the meaning of ‘Islam’, ‘Judeo-Christian’ and ‘Western’, you can come to the conclusion that their core ethics are the same. Hameed is right that the core of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is similar. They are all based on the same Messianic laws that developed around 3000 years ago. However, the big difference between Judeo-Christian laws and Islamic laws is that the Judeo-Christian society developed. Jewish scholars throughout the ages did not shy away from reinterpreting the Messianic laws in accordance with the current norms. And so, if it says in the Torah â€Å"an eye for an eye†, the Jewish scholars explained that this is merely an issue of payment. Laws which were relevant to an earlier type of society, such as Levirate marriages (a custom which required that a man marry his brother’s widow if the deceased died childless) are now simply forbidden according to Jewish law. It is enough to take a look at another one of Hameed’s answers about stoning to understand that in Islam that is not the case. If stoning was prescribed 1400 years ago as the punishment for adultery, then it will be the punishment today, no matter how barbaric it seems. Hameed can go on and on about why stoning will only be used in certain cases and why adultery is so bad that it is requires stoning. That has nothing to do with ethics. Nobody today claims that adultery is ‘good’. However, stoning as a punishment, is seen as barbaric. No Jew today would consider stoning a person to death, despite it being clearly written as punishment in the Torah. In fact, death as punishment is not accepted today by Judaism, and the Jewish state does not punish serious offenders, such a serial murderers and terrorists, with the death sentence. Ethics: choosing principles of conduct as a guiding philosophy. Morals: conforming to a standard of right behavior. Here is where I see the difference. Morals, to be sure, are rules and standards that we are told we must â€Å"conform† to when deciding what is â€Å"right† behavior. In other words, morals are dictated to us by either society or religion. We are not free to think and choose. You either accept or you don’t! We are taught by society and religion that you â€Å"shall not lie† or you should â€Å"give to the poor† or you must â€Å"love others as you would have others love you† or you must do something because it is â€Å"your moral obligation.† The key issue with â€Å"morals† is that you are expected to â€Å"conform to a standard of right behavior† and not question that â€Å"conforming† or you are not a â€Å"moral† person. But again, where do these â€Å"morals† come from to which we are expected to â€Å"conform†? Yep, from society and/or religion, but not from YOU, and that’s what b others me. Ethics, on the other hand, are â€Å"principles of conduct† that YOU CHOOSE to govern your life as a guiding philosophy that YOU have chosen for your life. Again, call it semantics if you want, but I see a big difference between â€Å"conforming† and â€Å"choosing.† With MORALS the â€Å"thinking has been done;† with ETHICS there’s a freedom to â€Å"think and choose† your personal philosophy for guiding the conduct of your life. I like to watch movies about the â€Å"mafia† or TV shows like the â€Å"Sopranos.† The people on these shows are extremely devoted people to their families and religions, but they have somehow â€Å"morally justified† their actions of killing, stealing, and lying. How is it that these extremely devoted family men and supposedly devoted members of the Catholic religion think that what they are doing is moral is a mystery to me. Yet they wear their â€Å"crosses,† cross themselves, love th eir kids, and dedicate  themselves to the â€Å"family† while killing people who get in the way. Now that’s an interesting morality. But morals don’t stop there. Think of all the hundreds of cultures who have totally different ideas of morality. Some cultures think it is perfectly fine to have as many wives as they want; some think only one wife is moral in the eyes of God. Some cultures think that it is fine to steal if you need food; other cultures think that stealing is stealing and is never morally justified. Some cultures think that â€Å"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth† judgment is fine; other cultures think that this type of moral thinking is barbaric. When you leave MORAL THINKING to society and religion, there is no such thing as â€Å"absolute morality.† So, is there any such thing as a 100% MORAL PERSON? I think not, at least based on the criteria, culture, society, and religion telling us what our morals should be. ETHICS are a totally another matter. With ethics, you are free to choose your personal philosophy of conduct to guide your life. You are not dependent on the judgment of society or religion â€Å"based in fear† when making your ethical decisions. For example, I believe in telling the truth not because God may curse me, but because it is the right and best thing to do based on my personal ethics. I believe in being 100% faithful to my wife, not because adultery is a sin, but because being true to your wife is the smart and right thing to do. It is a better and happier way to live, again not because God will send me to hell if I commit adultery, but because it is the right and best way to live my life ba sed on my ethical way of seeing things. I believe in keeping the laws of the land, however, I am not living my life based on the rules of society and religion, but solely based on a pragmatic and ethical way of living. I don’t refrain from stealing because I’m afraid I might go to jail. I don’t steal because I have decided not to steal based on my ethics. I don’t have to be commanded to give to the poor. I concern myself with giving to and helping the poor based on my ethics.I have the freedom to choose and if I am smart, I will choose personal ethics that will enrich my life and the lives of others. As with all other freedoms, there is always the risk that I will make ethical decisions that could cause me to drift over to the â€Å"dark side.† That’s the problem with the freedom to choose or free agency. Anytime we allow people the freedom to choose, we also give them the freedom to make bad choices. If you want to make bad ethical decisions that will make you, and perhaps others, unhappy,  then you can. However, if you want to make good ethical decision that will make you and others happier, you have the freedom to make those ethical decisions too. I choose personal ethics to govern my life that make me happier, while I strive to enri ch the lives of others. It’s the ethical thing to do based on my personal ethics. You don’t have to tell me not to lie, not to steal, not to kill, not to commit adultery, etc. I have already made my ethical decisions to NOT do those things. You don’t have to tell me to give to the poor, love my neighbor and my enemies, use my free agency for good, etc. I have already made these personal ethical decisions. I choose my principles of personal conduct because I have thought about them. My ethics are my ethics, and yet interestingly enough, they almost always agree with society and religion. The only difference is I made these decisions. My personal thinking determines my ethics. I made these ethical choices. Not because I was told by society or religion to think a certain way but because I thought it was the best way to live a complete and fulfilled life of happiness. Freedom to think is a great concept. We ought to use this freedom more often. Think about it. Larry John is the international author of Think Rich to Get Rich, a detailed outlining of the 4 pillars of wealth, and Larryisms, an introduction to pragmatic thinking. He owns a successful advertising agency and enjoys his many entrepreneurial plots and adventures including: real estate, sales and marketing, public relations, publishing, radio broadcasting ([http://www.radioarizona.net]), and many more. He is also the founder of The Pragmatic Thinker found at ThePragmaticThinker.com. His first book has been reprinted in several different languages and the exposure continues to grow. His second book will be released in October of 2007 and is available at amazon.com and ThePragmaticThinker.com. It is also available through Baker & Taylor. Larry enjoys applying pragmatic principles of thinking to his business and his personal life and finds that through a greater understanding, a higher level of success and happiness is achieved. For instance fox hunting in England was ethical till the other day, because that was the tradition, and there was no law against it. But the recent legislation banning it made it illegal, and the widespread protests against the evil nature of the sport caused a cessation of the tradition supporting it, and therefore it became unethical. Morals on the other hand are made of sterner stuff, and usually do not change. It will for instance always be  immoral to m urder another human being, no matter who the person committing the act is. Ethics are well defined and quite neatly laid down. Take the case of professionals like doctors and lawyers. They know what the ethics of their profession dictate. A doctor will never divulge his patient’s medical history to anyone other than the patient himself, unless authorized by the later, or required under law to do so. Similarly a lawyer will never compromise his client’s interest notwithstanding his own disposition towards his client. But morals are of a subliminal nature and deciding upon what constitutes them is not that easy. We know of moral dilemma, not an ethical one. Take the case of abortion. Is it moral? On the one hand there may be extremely compelling grounds in its favor, but is taking a human life, even if not fully formed, ever going to be considered a moral act? Following ethics is therefore a relatively simple affair; after all it only involves a set of socially acceptable guidelines which benefit all. Morals are however relatively difficult to a dhere to. The religious sect of Jains in India believes that the only matter which can be consumed by human beings is leaves and fruit which have fallen off trees. No grain, no dairy products, no eggs, nor any meat. Why they are supposed to cover their mouths and noses with a piece of cloth, so that they may not inadvertently kill microscopic organisms by the very act of breathing. Now those are tough morals to follow! We can clearly see that morals and ethics though seemingly similar are in fact quite distinct. While the former constitute a basic human marker of right conduct and behavior, the latter is more like a set of guidelines that defined accepted practices and behavior for a certain group of people. Summary: 1. Ethics relates to a society whereas morality relates to an individual person. 2. Ethics relate more in a professional life while morals are what individuals follow independently. Read more: Difference Between Ethics and Morals | Difference Between | Ethics vs Morals http://www.differencebetween.net/business/difference-between-ethics-and-moral